Hangar door operating mechanism



5, E47. E. R. WEAVER 294259016 V -HANGAR DOOR OPERATNG MECHANISM Filed Dec. 19, 1944 1 4 sheets-sheet 1 INVENToR. 506,4@ Afl/5,4145@ l. 5,' i947. E. WEAVER v 2,425,016

HANGAR DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM Filled Dec. l, 1944 4 sheets-sheet 2 v "um t Q m5 (il) 1 g w w. u

, INVENTOR. EosP/QMFgI/EP 477101? fyi' Aug. 5, w47.

E. R. WEAVER HANGAR DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM Filed Dec. 19, 1944 4 Sheets-Sheet` 5. v

INVEN TOR. 506,4@ ,9. 45m/fh? AUS- 5, 1.947 E. R. WEAVER 2,425,016

HANGAR `DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM l Filed D60. .19," 1944 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 A. INVENIOR.y

EDGAR f-414s@ Patented Aug. 5, 194'? UNITED STATES PATENT OFFiC (Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as amended April 30, 1928; 370 0. G. 757) claims.

The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes, without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to closure operators and particularly to power operators for large hangar doors and the like, and among other objects, aims to provide a simple, practicable, and dependable power-actuated mechanism for closing and opening the panels or sections of hangar doors, the arrangement being such that the door sections reach the fully open or fully closed positions simultaneously, although each door section travels a different distance. Particular objects are to provide a door-operating mechanism which has a very easy action and is so made that it is accessible for maintenance and repairs, with no parts projecting externally of the door sections to be exposed to the weather, and all parts being above the floor level so that damage from passing vehicles, etc., is improbable. Other objects will be understood from the following description of the preferred embodiment of the in-` vention shown in the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification.

In said drawings:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary diagrammatic view, in perspective, of a three-section hangar door and the operating means therefor;

Fig. 2 is an elevation, on a greatly reduced scale, of two hangar doors of three sections each, shown in closed position;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view showing the operating mechanism in the hangar alcove and its connections with the door sections, which are shown only fragmentarily;

Fig. 4 is a vertical section substantially on line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a vertical section substantially on line 5 5 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a detail elevation showing a typical adjustable connection between a sprocket chain and a door section;

Fig. 7 is a detail in vertical cross section showing the preferred Way of guiding the door sections; and

Fig. 8 is a detail in vertical cross section showing the preferred way of supporting the door sections.-

The prior art contains a number of suggestions for operating rolling doors in such a way that the door sections or panels all reach the fully Open or fully closed positions at the same time. J Murphy in Patent No. 1,005,281, dated October 10, 1911, discloses an elevator door composed of two rolling sections, one of which is pushed open or shut by hand and which has a rack and pinion connection with the other door section to eifect simultaneous movement of the latter in the same direction. The Griiiith and Dodds Patent No.

1,534,210, dated April 21, 1925, discloses another hand-operated elevator door, this time of three sections, all of which travel together though at appropriately different speeds. K, R. Nisbet in Patent No. 2,174,524, dated October 3, 1939, shows a hangar closed by two doors each consisting of four rolling door panels, Iwith a single motor drive for a plurality of cables and differential sheaves to effect simultaneous and differential movement of the eight door panels; but there are many objections to this construction arising from oper ational difliculties inherent in employing cables to move heavy masses located considerable distances from the motor drive. These patents and others in the prior art fail to show how to solve satisfactorily the problem of moving very heavy and large door sections, for example around 18-20 tons, approximately 60 ft.` tall and 28-30 ft. wide, through Varying distances up to ft. or more, in such a Way as to effect simultaneous opening and closing of all the door sections.

Referring particularly to the drawings, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the doors are each of three disalined sections, leaves or panels II, I2, and I3, each section being upright and parallel to the others. To distinguish between the door panels, the one which is outermost, designated Il, may be called the jamb leaf, the intermediate one, designated I2, may be termed the intermediate leaf, and the innermost panel I3 may be called the remaining or innermost leaf. These door sections are preferably built principally from standard channels, angles, and I-beams in a manner unnecessary to disclose, and may contain Windows I4 at intervals. -An emergency door I5 may be provided in one of the door sections I2 to permit personnel to pass in and out of the hangar without moving the large door sections. Each door sectionr is preferably supported by means of flanged rollers I6 (Fig. 8) rolling over a level rail I'I embedded in a solid concrete foundation I8, and is guided during its travel by a pair of horizontal rollers I9 (Fig. '7) engageable with the vertical web 20 of one of two beams 2l which extend across the top of the opening in the building which is to be closed by the door sections. Flexible weather strips 22 at the bottom 0f each door section may engage the floor to shut out drafts, etc., and similar strips '23 at the top of each door section may engage one of the Webs 20 to perform the same function at the top of the opening. Weather strips (not shown) are also at the inner and outer edges of each door section. No claim is made to the ccnstruction as so far described.

The preferred motor drive for each door consisting of two or more sections is located in an alcove 24 of the hangar adjacent the entrance which is closed by the doors, and comprises a reversible 2-speed electric motor 25 driving a shaft 26 which is coupled to a fluid drive or hydraulic coupling unit 2:?. A speed reducing unit 28 driven by. the.. fiuid unit, and slowly drives a sprocket wheel 29 about which a horizontal sprocket chain 35 is trained. Chain 30 also passes. around an idler sprocket 3| supported on a bearing fixed to a wall and is supported for the greater part of its length on a bracket 3m, xed to a wall or other support. A bracket 32 issecured by means of a tension take-up or adjusting device 33 to both ends of chain 3,8, (upper length) and is fixed to the end of door panel II so that the latter is rolled back` andforth asithe motor is driven in opposite directions. I-f desired: a solenoid brake 34 may be employed to effect quick stopping of sprccket'wheel 29and chenll. A handf-operated gear; shift lever 35 operates a gear (not shown) for connecting a hand crank 31,l working through spur gears 38t (which are then in mesh) topermit manual operation of; the doorsin case of power failure. Push buttoncpntrol, limit switches, and safety switches arepref'- erably employed, but these control devices are' so well known in various arts that illustration thereof is omitted, except that one limit switch 39 is shown in Figs. 3 andeby way of example.

Rigidlysupported adjacent the door of the alcove is a horizontal rack Bil whose length is about equal the width of a door section,Y Rack 40` lies between door sectionl I-I and the wall of the alcove. A pinion4| is fixed to a stub' shaft 42 journalled inf a bracket 43 fixed to and projecting from door section II, and said pinion meshes with rack 4G, so. that as door section II travels, pinion- 4l is rotated by engagement with the stationary rack, causing stub` shaft 42 to be rotated. Stub shaft 42 carries a sprocket wheel 43 on the opposite side of door section I I, and the pitch of said sprocket wheel equalsthe pitch of pinion 4I. A sprocket chain 44, engages with sprocket 43- to be driven thereby, and is carried on horizontalvsupports 441cv,` which are securedto door section I I on the inside thereof near the bottom. The ends. of sprocket chain- 44are secured to the inner end of ldoor sectionIZ by -Ineansn ,of a bracket. Chain 44fa1so is trained-about lan idler sprocket 48.7; supported onY door section-, II on theinsida near thebottom, A-f secondrack; 4'I is xed to4 door section II on the. inside, perhaps 8 ft. above the floor level, and extendshe ri -v zontally. A pinion 48 on a; stub shaft 49 .(journailed in bracket G on the innerY end oildoor section I2) mesheswith rack 41, soY as tobe Arotated whenthere is relative movement between the door sections II andWIZ. Stub shaft;43car ries a sprocket wheel 5I at its oppositeend, 4and here again, the pitch of sprocket wheel, 5I equals, the pitch oipinion 43. A thirdsprocketjchain 52 is trained about sprocket-wheel 5I and, is sup ported horizontally on supports 53 yIixedgtoygdoor section I2 on the inside, thethird chain52 having anidler sprocket 54 Vrotatably mounted adjacent the outer end of door section l2. The endsof the third sprocket chain are secured to opposite sides of a bracket 55xed to door section I3 on the-inf ner end thereof.

The operator presses the button-for the,desired direction of movement and-the vmotorE is energized,K Starting at slowy speed and. automatically. risingi to high speed. The main drive shaft-,26,starts to rotate, which drives sprocket chain 3qin one direction or the other, moving vdoor sectionV II inthe same direction. As door'sectionV lIrQlglsf, pinion 4I at the innerfedgeof door `section l I rolls over xed rack in the-alcove, whichrotates stub shaft 42, which in turn rotates sprockc1343. Sprocket 43 drives, sprocket. chain 44 in the. same direction that4 sprocketchai-n 38 moves, and at the same speed. Now sprocket chain 44 is secured at its ends to door section I2, and the latter must travel with chain 44. Since door section I-2 moves relative to door section II, pinion 4tv rotates as it travels over rack 4'I on door section II, thereby rotating stub shaft 49, whichin= turn drives sprocket wheel 5I. Hence sprocketchain 52 is driven in one direction or the other, and as its ends are secured to door section le; the latteris: rolled open or shut as the case may bei Because the door sections are mechanically connected together, if one moves, all three move;A and` all three door; sections attaina their final,L positions: (whether open or closed) simultaneously; The first; doorsection. need only move a distance equal to itsl own- Width (preferably slightly-lessi, the second door section moves a distance; practicallyl double its own width, and thethird; door section moves: nearlythree, times its. ownf width, a1l-;in,thesame vtime interval. The extentnfgmovementof the first door section determines thetotaly travel ofV each of the other doors,` andLtheseveral movements will always be-inthe ratio of 1-:2:3.

I tfwillgbe appreciated that door section IIf rolls ata speediwhich-equals theglineargspeedofsprocketA chain-,30; which for ythe sakes-of the discussion mayvbessaidrto be 50j ft: per min; As;door section K I ,li travels; it; carriessprocket chainv 44: and rack 4l, withit.; Butfsprocketchain 44; besides travelingv as: anentirety; onv door section" I-I, is forced tog-move; about: its'. sprockets because; stub shaft;42: is rotated. during. travel of'pinionV 4I overracklIU- Now-the', linear speed of pinion 4I is added; t0: thezspeedzof travel of ysprocket chain 441imparted'by the door sectionfwhich'supportsit; thus sprocket chain- 44:a travels twice. as fast` as door section II, or it. per;min.a Doorsection I2 isV attached. to; sprocket` chain 44;- henceA the gIOimd' Speedofi door: section I2; willbe. 100. ft. per min. Sprocket chainz''isfcarriedon door section I2, Land-will likeyviseahave. a` ground lspeed of lolcftz iler-mixte` As; pinionl 48,1meshes with rack 4I on door section Il, the relativenspeed of 'doors I I' and- I2-3 ist.imparted^` to stub; shaft 495 which drivesX sprcketzchain; 52. Therefore sprocket chain 52:;hasethezlinearvelocity of door II plus that of door sectiorxxl2ior-` 150 ft; permin., and as doorgsection I3: is secured to sprocket chain 52, door section I3 has a ground speed. ofil'ft. per min. Imanactualzinstallation which hasbeen found satisfactory, door section IIrhas :a ground speedpf @abouti 17'5ft; 4per min., moving Ifroml fully open,tafel-bl;A closedposition' in: 1' min. 40?:sec; Movement of the door sections .ceases :when the operatCrremoveshis finger; from. :the push buttQnzr-,or f when a ,limit switch has been tripped.

The foregoing description will make it clear. thatzthezinventionemay be..A used on doors having almostpany-.number of. panels or sections.l A -par'- ticular advantage of the invention is that the dQQIISfdQ in ot 'get O utor time .relative .to -each other, liter.isgipositive.` Once; the: drive m zsadiustedgpractically no more atweightsmfc the; docrsxare; not ;imposed .onf any parti of;the;operatllgrmechanism; The Vinventonvis; noteonlyiuserul for hangar ;doors-, but .may

Ahave@other-applicetlprls,L for ginstance,V at. motor freight. terminala; atfgarages .and'in auditoriums,l gymnasiums landzzpublic halls where theinteriorl needed, as there rare-noi cables.- whichwill'econtinueto,.stretch. Furthermore the dead.

is subdivided by movable panels or doors. Therefore I do not wish to be limited to the details described herein but only as required by the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A door including a pair of disalined leaves slidable in their planes between doorway-opening positions in overlying retracted relationship to each other and doorway-closing positions in projected relationship to each other, a iixed rack, a pinion on one of said leaves engaged with said rack, a sprocket wheel xed with respect to said pinion for rotation therewith, an idler sprocket wheel on the same leaf, an endless chain engaged with said sprocket wheels, and a connection between said chain and said second mentioned leaf whereby said leaves are shifted between retracted and projected positions relative to each other by shifting of either leaf between doorway-opening and doorway-closing positions.

2. A door including an outermost or jamb leaf and at least two other leaves all disalined and slidable in their planes between doorway-opening positions in overlying retracted relationship to each other and doorwayeclosing positions in projected relationship to each other, a fixed rack, a pinion on said .lamb leaf engaged with said Xed rack, a sprocket wheel fixed 'with respect t0 said pinion for rotation therewith, an idler sprocket wheel carried by said jamb-leaf, an endless chain engaged with said sprocket wheels, a connection between said chain and said intermediate leaf whereby said intermediate leaf is shifted to projected and retracted positions relative to said jamb leaf by shifting of said jamb leaf to projected and retracted positions relative to the doorway, a rack fixed to said jamb leaf, a pinion on the intermediate leaf engaged with the rack' on said jamb leaf,l a sprocket wheel fixed with respect to said seco-nd mentioned pinion for rotation therewith, an idler sprocket on said intermediate leaf, an endless chain engaged with the sprockets on said intermediate leaf, and a connection between said last mentioned chain and said remaining leaf whereby said remaining leaf is projected and retracted relative to said intermediate leaf yby projection and retraction of said intermediate leaf relative to said jamb leaf.

3. A hangar door comprising first and second hangar door sections, means supporting the door sections for rolling movement in adjacent parallel vertical planes between fully open and fully closed positions, means for simultaneously operating the door sections comprising a stationary horizontal rack disposed parallel to the direction of movement of the first door section, a pinion meshing with said stationary rack, a shaft supporting the pinion in driving relation thereto, means journalling said shaft on the first door section, a sprocket on the first door section driven by the shaft, a sprocket chain driven by the sprocket, means operatively supporting said sprocket chain on the rst door section for relative movement in a direction parallel to the direction of movement of the first hangar door section, and means connecting the second door section to the sprocket chain, themechanism being so proportioned, constructed and arranged that the iirst and second door sections reach their limits of rolling movement in either direction simultaneously.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3, including a third hangar door section mounted to roll parallel to the first and second hangar door sections, a second horizontal rack rigidly supported on the first hangar door section at one side thereof adjacent the second hangar door section, a second shaft journalled on the second hangar door section, a pinion xed on said second shaft in mesh ing relation with said second horizontal rack, a second sprocket Xed on said second shaft adjacent the third. hangar door, a second sprocket chain driven by the second sprocket, means supporting the second sprocket chain on the second hangar door section in adjacent parallel relation to the third hangar door section for relative movement in a direction parallel to the rolling movements of the second hangar door section, and means connecting the third hangar door section to the second sprocket chain, the pitch of each pinion being equal to the pitch of the sprocket Which is directly driven by it.

5. A door operating mechanism for multi-section rolling doors comprising, a plurality of rolling door panels movable in adjacent parallel vertical planes, a shaft, means connecting the shaft with a rst one of the door panels for opening and closing movements of that door panel, a pinion journalled on said iirst door panel to rotate about a horizontal axis disposed transverse t0 the plane of rolling movement of said first door panel, a stationary rack meshing with said pinion to rotate said pinion as said iirst panel is moved to open or closed positions, a sprocket connected to said pinion to rotate therewith, an endless sprocket chain supported on said first door panel for relative movement in a plane parallel and adjacent to the rst and a second one of the door panels having an upper side disposed hori zontally and parallel to the plane of the second door panel and in driving relation with said sprocket, means connecting the upper side of said sprocket chain with the second door panel, a second rack mounted horizontally on the rst door panel, a second pinion journalled on the second door panel meshing with the second rack, a second sprocket connected to the second pinion to be rotated thereby, a second endless sprocket chain supported on the second door section in a plane parallel to the plane of rolling movement of the second and a third one of the door panels having an upper side disposed parallel and adjacent to the second and third door panels, and means securing the said upper side of the said second sprocket chain to the third door panel, whereby the rst, second and third door panels move simultaneously between full open and closed positions and reach fully open or fully closed positions simultaneously.

EDGAR R. WEAVER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,085,071 Voight Jan. 20, 1914 1,960,860 Allen May 29, 1934 1,534,210 Griith et a1. Apr. 21, 1925 1,082,129 McCabe Dec. 23, 1913 832,010 Cossey Sept. 25, 1906 

